


Mission Accomplished

by Ihc



Category: The Lion King (1994)
Genre: Dialogue Heavy, Gen, One Shot, POV Antagonist, Shipping Implied If You Squint, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-12
Updated: 2018-06-12
Packaged: 2019-05-21 09:16:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,427
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14912628
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ihc/pseuds/Ihc
Summary: The old King is Dead, the ‘Future King’ … ought to be dead, and for the first time in the Pridelands’ history lions and hyenas are not just at peace but united. The night of Scar’s coronation, Shenzi and Banzai reflect on their victory, what they had to do to get there, and where to go next. Set in the same continuity as Clanless, but is a standalone story.





	Mission Accomplished

Pride Rock stood tall over the savanna, as it had for longer than any creature could remember. Aside from the occasional piece coming off, the tower of rock, the eroded heart of an ancient volcano, was eternal and immutable. The death of a king, the coronation of a traitorous usurper, and the arrival of his army of supporters meant nothing to Pride Rock.

 

A lone hyena nonchalantly made her way down the slope of boulders, threading between others of her kind and keeping well away from a clump of furious-looking lionesses, and headed for one of the smaller side caves in the inselberg’s shadow. Another, male and slightly smaller, watched her approach from the entrance.

 

“Yo, Shenz.”

 

“What’s up, pincushion?”

 

Banzai scowled. “Ah, shaddup… why’s this kinda thing always gotta happen to me anyway?”

 

“Cause you’re dumb,” Shenzi replied with a smirk.

 

“Hey, it was Ed’s fault!” Banzai gestured to his brother, who was already snoring. “And you almost fell down the cliff gettin’ into the gorge, you can’t talk!”

 

“Yeah, _almost_.”

 

“Whatever.”

 

Shenzi stretched, paced around the cave entrance a couple times, and settled down next to Banzai. “It really looks bigger up close, doesn’t it?” she observed.

 

“Yeah, no kidding! So, how about Scar’s little speech, huh?”

 

“He’s a good actor, I’ll give him that. For a sec I almost believed him… ‘what a terrible loss’ and all that.”

 

“I would’a believed him if I hadn’t seen him waltz outta the gorge to deliver the news. Didja see him, he was practically giddy!”

 

“What, him pushin’ Mufasa off that cliff didn’t tip ya off?”

 

“Yeah, that was… I mean, Scar talks a good game, but I didn’t think he had the guts to, y’know, actually do it himself.”

 

“I know, right? I was worried he was gonna get cold paws and help him up when he was actually there beggin’ and all, but nope! Just boom, chucked ‘im off, just like that!”

 

“...It’s kinda messed up, isn’t it?” Banzai asked. “I mean, I hate Mufasa and I know they didn’t get along and all, but, like… he was family!” He glanced back at his own brother. “Would you kill your own family?”

 

“Maybe if I had any I’d know,” Shenzi spat. “Damn lions.” She flicked her ears irritably. “Besides, I’m more worried about that cub.”

 

“Well Scar didn’t kill him, did he? He could’a, but he sent us after him instead.”

 

“Yeah...”

 

“You think he’s dead yet?”

 

Shenzi shrugged. “Dunno. It was pretty hot out, so hopefully, but he might last a couple days.”

 

“You don’t think he’ll come back, do ya?”

 

“After what Scar said to him? No way!”

 

“If he gets thirsty enough he might turn around.”

 

“Maybe, but you know what the desert’s like. By the time he realized he’d be too far out to make it back even if he doesn’t get lost.” Shenzi sighed, shutting her eyes and shaking her head. “Ya know, Scar didn’t _have_ to tell the kid it was his fault an’ all that if he was gonna have us kill him anyway.”

 

“Maybe he was afraid we’d mess it up… and I mean, we kinda did.”

 

“Then why’d he give him a head start on us, huh? There was so much dust there, I could’a just snuck up and broken his neck like _that_. Cookin’ to death in that desert ain’t gonna be a fun way to go.”

 

“So why didn’t ya?”

 

“Uhh… Scar offed Mufasa himself, I thought he mighta offed Simba too.”

 

“C’mon, Shenzi, tell the truth. You didn’t wanna kill him, did ya?”

 

“Did you?”

 

“What, are you kidding me, course I was gonna… well, I… uhh… no, not really.”

 

“Me neither. I mean, I know it’s the right thing. I know he was prob’ly gonna grow up just like his dad, the way he just waltzed into our Graveyard and acted like he owned the joint. And, well, you saw the clans’ cubs out there, right? Half of ‘em wouldn’ta lasted another month without Scar lettin’ us in the Pridelands. But still, he’s a damn cub, ya know?”

 

“Yeah, I hear ya. So, uhh, speaking of cubs, did ya see that other one he brought to the Graveyard?”

 

“What? Yeah, I saw her. Looked pretty upset. Man, that’s another thing. Scar never said nothin’ about Simba bringing his girlfriend! Killing Mr. ‘Future King’s one thing, but that one didn’t do nothing to nobody.”

 

We’da still had to kill ‘er though,” said Banzai. “If we didn’t she’d just tell Mufasa which three hyenas killed his cub!”

 

“So? So’d Zazu, and you let _him_ go! Besides, you think Mufasa wouldn’t just kill whatever hyenas he found?” Shenzi shivered. “Ya know, thinkin’ about it it’s a _good_ thing we screwed that up.”

 

“Yeah… anyway, that’s not what I meant! Didn’t ya see who her mom is?”

 

“I dunno, a hippo?” joked Shenzi. “Do I look like I got all the lions in the Pride memorized to you?”

 

“No… _Sarafina_...” Banzai snarled, flattening his ears against his skull.

 

“What? Ohh… ohh.” All the humor drained from Shenzi’s face. “She’s the one that killed your dad, right?”

 

“Yeah. Man, the way she was lookin’ at some of the hyenas I thought she was gonna kill someone tonight.”

 

“Oh, that was her? Jeesh… and I thought Zira was scary!”

 

“Hey, don’t let Scar hear ya say that! But yeah, tell me about it… you know I still have nightmares about those eyes?”

 

“Course I know. I found you guys pretty soon after that battle, didn’t I?”

 

“Yeah...” Banzai looked straight at Shenzi, his narrowed eyes glowing blue-green in the moonlight. “Ya know we gotta kill her, right?”

 

“Are you nuts? Scar’s not gonna help us kill some lioness!”

 

“Scar doesn’t need to know, does he? We don’t need him babysittin’ us anymore!”

 

“Well we sure as hell can’t just pick a fight with Sarafina by ourselves!” hissed Shenzi. “You know they say the only reason she wasn’t in the Lion Guard’s ‘cuz Scar didn’t think lionesses could handle it, right?”

 

“Wish she was, maybe he’da blown her up too. Anyway, this ain’t just about revenge. She hates Scar, doesn’t she?”

 

“Think so.”

 

“She’s gonna start somethin’ at some point.”

 

“So wait for her to start somethin’.”

 

“I saw her givin’ a couple cubs the stink-eye. You wanna wait ‘til she kills a cub?”

 

“What makes you think she’s dumb enough to do that? Scar’d _have_ to banish her or kill her if she did.”

 

“What makes you think she’s dumb enough to get caught? We just killed a cub didn’t we? I don’t see no blood on our muzzles!”

 

“And what makes you think she’s gonna go after a cub in the first place? She was givin’ everybody the stink-eye.”

 

“Oh, I dunno, maybe the part where she _tried to kill me and Ed_ after she’d finished with Dad?”

 

“Oh, yeah, and what’d we just do today, Banzai? Remind me? Oh, that’s right, we killed some lion cub’s dad and then we tried to kill him!”

 

“Hey, that’s different! We had orders from Scar! Like you said, we didn’t really wanna do it, we had to!”

 

“Yeah an’ she had orders from Ahadi.”

 

“Hey, you shut up!” Banzai jumped to his feet, teeth bared and mane standing on end. “You weren’t even there! Don’t try to defend that damn _mbwajike_!”

 

A moment later Shenzi was on her feet as well, with her nose an inch from Banzai’s. “If your butt ain’t touching that ground in five seconds you’ll _wish_ those thorns were all that happened to it!”

 

Banzai complied immediately. His snarl vanished, but his glare remained.

 

“Look, you’re right, I wasn’t there,” Shenzi continued. “I’m not tryin’ to to defend her. That was more… that wasn’t about what she did, it was about what we did.” She sighed and shook her head to push her bangs out of her eyes. “Never mind. I just want the war to be _over_ , and I don’t want you being an idiot and getting yourself killed, which kinda sounds like what you’re planning right now!”

 

“Then you got any better ideas?”

 

“Yeah I got one. Be. Patient. If we’re doing this, we gotta have a plan. We gotta make it look like an accident, like Scar would, and we gotta be careful.”

 

“Wait… so we are doing this?” Banzai asked.

 

Shenzi grinned. “Hell yeah we’re doin’ this. No lion hurts my clan and gets away with it.”

 

“But, uhh, my Dad wasn’t part of your clan, remember?”

 

“No, but you are.”

**Author's Note:**

> • Inselberg: an isolated rock hill rising from a surrounding plain. Pride Rock doesn’t qualify as a monolith since there are multiple rocks which presumable broke off from the main mass and fell on each other at some point.  
> • Usually my stories have a lot of description and internal monologues, so I thought I’d try one that’s almost entirely dialogue!  
> • I’d like to give shoutouts to Anatoliba and LuxBlack on Deviantart for inspiring this fic with the following awesome fanart: https://luxblack.deviantart.com/art/He-really-DID-it-352003840 https://anatoliba.deviantart.com/art/Lost-The-Dad-120951396  
> • Hey, I wrote a story focusing on Jasiri, but I’ve thought the original trio weren’t as bad as they’re portrayed since well before The Lion Guard was released.  
> • As mentioned is the same continuity as Clanless. Basically long story short during the reign of Ahadi, Scar and Mufasa’s father, there was a war in which the hyenas and leopards were driven out of the Pridelands.  
> • Nala’s mother, Sarafina, killing Banzai’s father was mentioned in the live musical, and it’s resulted in me having a headcanon that she has a real dark side. Of course, having a cub of her own might have changed her...  
> • The trio eventually succeeded in their plan, which is why Sarafina doesn’t appear in the climax of The Lion King or in any of the sequels.


End file.
